His father is taking it slow, he said. “If he decides to hunt in a couple of years, that’s fine. But we joked around, and said let’s make it a camping trip. If he goes out again, I want to be with him.”

‘No words, just hugs’

Penaflor was reported missing to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office on September 25. He separated from his hunting partner one day earlier and had not been seen since.

Authorities initiated a search.

But they found no clues and suspended it after a few days, ahead of an incoming storm.